Blowing mechanism and method of making articles with two openings



y 1965 I E. L. ROWE 3,195,995

BLOWING MECHANISM AND METHOD OF MAKING ARTICLES WITH TWO OPENINGS Filed D80. 18, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. [Dk/AQO L. '90:

BY MJWMA AI'I'OIPIYEY July 20, 1965 E. L. ROW

E 3,195,995 BLOWING c ISM AND METHOD OF MAKING A 0 WITH TWO OPENINGS Filed Dec. 18, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 54 INVENTOR.

Qt/49.0 Z. IRON;

United States Patent 3,155-95 BLGWING MEQHANESM AND METHGD GE MAK- ING ARTEQLE WETH Twil GPENENGS Edward L. Rowe, Baltimore, Md assignor to Carr- Lowrey-Glass Qouapany of Baltimore County, Bedtirnore, Md, a corporation of Maryland Filed Dec. 18, 1961, Ser. No. 169,653 8 {ll-aims. (Cl. S7)

The present invention relates to an improved mechanism and method of manufacturing a bottle or a container and more particularly to an improved mechanism and method of making a bottle having openings at both ends.

It has become increasingly prevalent to bottle certain cosmetics, such as perfumes, deodorants, etc. in bottles which permit the contents to be easily dispensed, such as the ordinary spray dispenser. For aesthetic reasons a housewife is usually reluctant to place such spray dispensers on her vanity. It has thus been the practice to insert the spray dispenser into an outer decorative bottle which has a pleasing appearance and which the housewife will not hesitate to place on her vanity.

The outer bottle in common use today has an opening at the top through which the top of the spray dispenser protrudes and has an opening at the bottom closed by a suitable closure through which the inner spray dispenser may be inserted and replaced when desired.

Heretofore such an outer bottle has been made by forming it with one end open and with a hollow bulb or protrusion extending from its other end. This hollow bulb is later cut off to form an opening at the other end. The edge of the formed opening must then be ground and polished to give a smooth finish. This, of course, increases the cost of the bottle and decreases the rate of production.

The present invention overcomes these difficulties and has for one of its objects the provision of an improved mechanism and method of forming a bottle having openings at both ends.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improved mechanism and method of forming a bottle, wherein the bottle is initially formed with the openings at both ends so that the subsequent formation of the openings is not necessary.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improved method and mechanism of forming a bottle which eliminates the necessity of forming hollow bulbs which are later severed.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improved mechanism and method of forming a bottle, wherein the necessity of subsequently polishing the edge of the formed opening is eliminated.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improved mechanism and method of forming a bottie in which both openings are formed before the bottle is removed from the blow mold.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improved mechanism and method of forming a bottie with openings at both ends which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture and which will permit an increase in production.

Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described or will be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages not referred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employment of the invention in practice.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes of illustration and description and 3,195,995 Patented July 20, N385 ice is shown in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the specification, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a finished outer bottle made in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded sectional view of the bottle shown in PEG. 1 showing the positional relationship between the inner bottle and the outer bottle when fully assembled;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the upper portion of the outer bottle showing the bottle in use;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the upper portion of the outer bottle showing the position of the spray head at the top of the inner bottle, and the manner in which the top opening of the outer bottle is closed about the spray head of the inner bottle;

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the lower portion of the bottle showing the manner in which the bottom opening in the bottle is closed;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a parison mold showing a gob of glass in a parison mold prior to the formation of a parison;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 6 showing the shaping of the parison in the parison mold;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the parison after it has been formed in the parison mold;

FIG. 9 is an exploded sectional view showing the position of the parison in a blow mold before the blow head is attached thereto;

FIG. 10 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 9 showing the position of the parison in the blow mold after the blow head has been placed in position;

FIG. 11 is a detailed sectional view showing the relative position of the parts when the top opening of the outer bottle is formed;

FTG. 12 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 11 showing the positions of the parts after the top opening is formed; and

FIG. 13 is a sectional view showing the bottle after it has been shaped in the blow mold.

Referring to the drawings and more particularly to FIGS. 1 to 5, the bottle assembly ll made in accordance with the present invention comprises an outer bottle 2 within which is positioned an inner bottle 3.

The inner bottle 3 may be the usual spray-type dispenser which has a closure cap 4 mounted on top of neck portion 5 and a spray head 6 mounted on closure cap 4 adapted to be depressed in order to eject a fine spray of the material contained by the inner bottle 3. If desired, the innerbottle 3 may have an outer coating (not shown) made of a resilient material, such as plastic.

The inner bottle 3 is positioned within the outer bottle 2 and has its neck portion 5 protruding through a top opening 1% in the outer bottle 2. The outer bottle 2 may have a decorative shape, such as facets 7, to give it a pleasing appearance. The top opening 10 is closed by top closure 11 having a skirt portion 12 and a cover portion 13 with a central opening 14 therein to permit the spray head 6 of the inner bottle 3 to project therethrough so that the spray head 6 may be depressed by the user to eject a fine spray therefrom.

The upper part 15 of the skirt portion 12 of the top closure cap 11 is shown in the drawings as being inset to form a step 16 in order to permit a decorative head 17 to be mounted on the top closure cap 11 when the bottle is not in use. The lower edge of the skirt portion 12 is provided With a plurality of locking lugs 18 which are adapted to cooperate with suitable locking lugs 19 adjacent the top opening 10 of the outer bottle 2 to hold the top closure cap 11 in place and to permit it to be easily applied and removed from the outer bottle.

The lower edge of the outer bottle 2 is provided with a bottom opening 29 which is closed by a bottom closure cap 21 having a cover portion 22 and a skirt portion 23.

The skirt portion 23 is provided with a plurality of locking lugs 24 adapted to cooperate with the thread segments 25 on the lower edge of the outer bottle 2 to permit the bottom closure cap to be held in place. The inner surface of the cover portion 22 of the bottom closure cap 21 may be provided with a centrally located resilient pad 26 on which the inner bottle 3 is adapted to rest, as shown in FIG. 2.

It will be seen that with this structure, the bottom closure cap 21 is removed and the inner bottle 3 is inserted into the outer bottle 2 through the bottom opening 29. The inner bottle 3 is moved into the outer bottle 2 until the spray head 6 protrudes through the opening 14 in the cover portion 13 of the top closure cap 11 and the top surface of the closure cap 4 of the inner bottle 3 strikes against the inner surface of the cover portion 13 of the top closure cap 11 of the outer bottle 2. The bottom closure cap 21 is then applied to the outer bottle 2 so that the resilient pad 26 bears against the lower surface ofthe inner bottle. 3 to hold the inner bottle 3 in place between the resilient pad 26 and the inner surface of the 'cover portion 13 of the top closure cap 11.

With this structure, the user may easily dispense the contents from the inner bottle 3 by merely removing the decorative head 17 and pressing the spray head 6. When the inner bottle 3 is to be replaced, the bottom closure cap 21 is removed, as shown in FIG. 5, and the inner bottle 3 is moved out of the bottom opening 20. A dif ferent inner bottle is then inserted into the outer bottle 2 through the bottom opening 20 and the bottom closure cap 21 is reapplied.

While the drawings show the bottle assembly 1 to con sist of a spray type inner bottle 3 and a faceted outer bottle 2 with a polygonally shaped decorative head 17, it will be understood that the present invention is not limited to the particular bottles depicted in the drawings and that the inner bottle 3 need not be a spray bottle and the 'outer'bottle 2 and decorative head 17 may assume any desired shape.

The present invention is directed to an improved mechanism and method of forming the outer bottle 2 which is shown in FIGS. 6 to 13 to which reference may now be made.

As shown in FIG. 6, a gob of molten material 30, such as glass, is placed in a parison mold 31 through a top opening 32 therein. The parison mold 31 comprises the a usual wall mold 33 adapted to form the walls of the parison, a neck mold 34 adapted to form the locking lugs around the bottom opening 20 in the finished outer bottle 2, and a top cover portion 35 adapted to close opening 32.

In accordance with the present invention, the cover portion 35 has a slug mold 36 at its lower end formed by an annular flange 37 depending from cover portion 35. The usual pressing plunger 38 movable relative to guide 39 is adapted to move upwardly to press the gob of glass 'against the wall, neck and slug molds 33, 34 and 36, respectively, of the parison mold 131 to form parison 40 shown in FIG. 8. The parison 40 has smooth outer walls by plunger 38 and locking lugs 25 formed by the neck mold 34. The latter two are the bottom opening 20 and 'the locking lugs 25 of the finished outer bottle 2. Also formed are the locking lugs 19 around top opening 10.

top of the parison '43 which is separated from the edge 43 of the parison by a thin annular zone of weakness 42 which is formed by depending flange 37 of slug mold 36.

"The thickened slug 41 keeps the thin annular zone 42 hot mold assembly 50 which is shown in FIG. 9. During the transfer, the parison is inverted so that the bottom opening20 is on top as shown inFlG. 9.

The blow 'mold assembly 50 comprises a body mold 51,

- formed by the wall molds 33, bottom opening 20 formed The slug mold 36 will form a thickened slug 41 at the l which may be in the usual split mold comprising two half molds, used to form the shape of side walls of the finished bottle, a top neck supporting portion 52 on which the locking lugs 25 rest to hold the parison 40 in place, a lower holding portion 53 to support the lower edge of the parison 45, a bottom plate 54 having an opening or trough 55 therein, and a blow head assembly 56 which will be described in greater detail hereinafter.

When the inverted parison 40 is inserted in the body mold 51 of the blow mold assembly 50, the slug 41 fits into the trough 55 in the bottom plate 54 which serves to properly locate the parison 44) in the blow mold assembly 59. The trough 55 has a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the slug 41 so that when the slug 41 is punched out it will drop freely through the opening 55 in the bottom plate 54. The threads 25 around the top opening 20 rest on the neck supporting portions 52 of the mold and the edge 43 of the parison 40 will lie adjacent the holding portion 53 thereof.

The blow head assembly 56 is then lowered onto the blow mold 51. The blow head assembly 56, as shown in FIG. 10, comprises a blow head 60 depending from a locking ring 61 to which is attached a blow head arm 62 having an air conduit 63 therein through which air is admitted.

Extending from the lower end of the blow head 61) is a guide tube 64 which is adapted to be lowered with the blow head 60 and to seat on the inner, lower edge of the parison 40 as shown in FIGS. 10 to 12. The lower end 65 of the tube is tapered at preferably an angle of about 15 to the horizontal and its lower edge 66 is preferably about ,6 of an inch. When the guide tube 6 4 is lowered it abuts against the inner edge of the adjacent edge 42 and will press out the edge 43 of the parison 40 against the holding portion 53 to hold the parison steady. Around the outer periphery of the upper end of the tube 64 the blow head 65 is provided with a plurality of air holes 67 which communicate with the air conduit 63 in the blow head arm 62. Preferably six such air holes 67 are located around tube 64.

Positioned above the locking ring 61 is an air cylinder 70 within which a piston 71 is movably mounted. The

' piston 71 has a piston rod 72 extending therefrom around which is located a spring 73 which will bias the piston against the end wall 78 of the cylinder 70. The cylinder 70 has an opening 74 in its end wall 78 adapted to admit compressed air therein to move piston 71 against the action of the spring 73. A vent 75 is also located in the end wall 78 and a peephole? 76 is located in the side wall.

Depending from piston rod 77 is a knock-out punch 80 adapted to be lowered by the piston 71 of cylinder 70 to knock-out the slug 41 in the bottom of the parison 40. The punch 80 has a tapered edge 81 which is tapered about 15 to the vertical and the edge of which is about of an inch to act as a cutting edge. The diameter of the cutting edge 81 is substantially equal to the diameter of the annular weakened zone 42 in the parison so that it coincides therewith to permit slug 41 to be easily punched out. The lower end of the plunger above cutting edge 81 is knurled at 82, which may be the standard ,4, knurl, in order to act as a filing, polishing or smoothing surface to smooth the edge of the glass cut by the cutting edge 61 of punch 80. The portion 83 of the punch 80 above the knurled part 82 is of reduced diameter to give proper clearance.

It will be seen that as the piston '72 is moved down by the air cylinder 70 its depending knock-out punch 80 is also moved down until the cutting edge 81 strikes the thin zone 42 around slug 41 at the bottom of the parison 40 at which point the glass is cut through to punch out the slug 41 as shown in FIG. 12. The slug 41' then falls into the trough 55 in the bottom plate 54 and is disposed of. The tube 64 prevents movementof the parison during the punching operation. Thus, the opening 19 (which is the top opening 10 inthe outer bottle 2) is formed. The

knurled portion 82 acts to smooth the edge of opening so that no additional polishing step is necessary. After the slug 41 has been punched out, air is admitted into the parison 40 through the spaced openings 67 around the tube 64 so that the parison 4i expands to conform to the shape of the blow mold 51. The blowing is done while the guide tube 64 is in place to permit the air to act positively on the side walls of the parison 40 to blow out the molten glass and to prevent the air from escaping through the bottom opening 55.

The operation of the machine is obvious from the above description but will be reiterated below for convenience.

A gob of molten glass is inserted into the parison mold 31 as shown in FIG. 6 and the cover plate 35 is lowered on the mold to close it. The pressing plunger 38 is then moved upwardly as shown in FIG. 7 and presses the gob of glass against the wall mold 33, the slug forming mold 36 and the neck mold 34. This will form the side walls of the parison, the locking lugs 25 around the bottom opening 2%, and a thickened slug 41 connected to the side walls of the parison by a thin weakened zone of glass 42. Also formed at this point are the locking lugs 19 around top opening 10.

Before the parison hardens, it is transferred to the blow mold assembly 55 as shown in FIG. 9. In transferring the parison, it is inverted so that the bottom opening 20 is now on top and the locking lugs 25 lie on the lugsupporting portion 52 of the blow mold 51.

The blow head 60 with its associated guide tube 64 is then lowered so that the lower tapered edge 65 of the guide tube 64 presses the edge 43 of the parison against holding portion 53 to hold the parison steady. Thereafter, compressed air is admitted into the cylinder 70 through port 74 to move the piston 71 and associated punch 89 downwardly against the action of the spring 73. The cutting edge 81 of the punch tit; will bear against the weakened zone 42 surrounding the slug 41 to punch out the slug 31 and form the top opening it), i.e. the top opening it) in the finished outer bottle 2. The slug 41 drops into the trough 55 in the bottom plate 54. As the punch Si: continues its downward movement, its knurled portion 82 will smooth and polish the edge of the opening iii to remove any jagged edges.

Thereafter air is passed through the conduit 63 of the blow arm 52 and through the spaced air holes 67 in the blow head 59 which are located around the outside of the tube 64 to blow out the parison 4%) to the shape of the mold portions 51, as shown in FIG. 13, in order to form the final contours of the outer bottle 2. The blow head assembly 56 is then raised and the blow mold 51 is opened so that the finished outer bottle 2 can be removed therefrom.

Hence the finished outer bottle 2 will have a bottom opening 243 at one end with its associated locking lugs 25 and the top opening it at its other end with its associated locking lugs 1?. The outer bottle 2 is thus ready for use as described above without the necessity of additional steps.

It will be seen that the present invention provides an improved mechanism and method for forming an article having openings at both ends without the necessity of forming a hollow bulb which must be removed and also provides an improved mechanism and method which increases production and reduces cost.

As various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and without sacrificing any of its advantages, it is to be understood that all matter herein is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. Apparatus for forming an article having openings at both ends comprising the combination of a parisonforming mechanism for forming a parison having an open end and a closed end, a blow mold assembly having internal article-shaping walls, means for transferring said parison from said parison-forming mechanism to a position between the internal article-shaping walls of said blow mold assembly, means in said blow mold assembly for forming a second opening in said parison at the closed end thereof, means for introducing a fluid under pressure into the parison through the first opening therein to expand the outer surfaces of the parison against the walls of blow mold assembly and form an article, and means for sealing the second opening in said parison during the operation of said fluid introducing means to prevent said fluid from escaping through said second opening.

2. Apparatus for forming an article having openings at both ends comprising the combination of a parisonforming mechanism for forming a parison having an open end and a closed end with a thickened slug, a blow mold assembly having internal article-shaping walls, means for transferring said parison from said parison-forming mechanism to a position between the article-shaping walls of said blow mold assembly, means in said blow mold assembly for removing said thickened slug to form a second opening in said parison at the closed end thereof, means for introducing a fluid under pressure into the parison through the first opening therein to expand the outer surfaces of the parison against the walls of the blow mold assembiy and form an article and means for sealing the second opening in said parison during the operation of said fluid introducing means to prevent said fluid from escaping through the second opening.

3. Apparatus for forming an article having openings at both ends comprising the combination of a parisonforming mechanism for forming a parison having an open end and a closed end, a blow mold assembly having inter nal article-shaping walls, means for transferring said parison from said parison-forming mold to a position between the article-shaping walls of said blow mold assembly, a hollow tube in said blow mold assembly adapted to extend into said parison and engage the closed end of the parison to seal said closed end from the walls of the parison, a punch movable relative to and within said tube for punching a second opening in said parison at the closed end thereof, and means for introducing a fluid under pressure into the parison through the first opening therein and between said tube and the walls of the parison to expand the walls of the parison against the walls of the blow mold assembly to form an article.

4. Apparatus for forming an article having openings at both ends comprising the combination of a parison-forming mechanism for forming a parison having an open end and a closed end with a thickened slug, a blow mold as sembly having internal article-shaping walls, means for transferring said parison from said parison-forming mechanism to a position between the article-shaping walls of said blow mold assembly, a hollow tube in said blow mold assembly adapted to extend into said parison and engage the closed end of the parison along a peripheral zone adjacent said thickened slug to seal said closed end from the walls of the parison, a punch movable relative to and within said tube for punching out said thickened slug to form a second opening in said parison at the closed end thereof and means for introducing a fluid under pressure into the parison through the first opening therein and between said tube and the walls of the parison to expand the walls of the parison against the walls of the blow mold assembly to form an article.

5. Apparatus for forming an article having openings at both ends comprising the combination of a parison-forming mechanism for forming a parison having an open end and a closed end, a blow mold assembly having internal article-shaping walls, means for transferring said parison from said parison-forming mechanism to a position between the article-shaping walls of said blow mold assembly, a hollow tube in said blow mold assembly adapted to extend into said parison and engage the closed end of the parison along a peripheral zone adjacent to said thickened slug to seal said closed end from the Walls of the parison, said tube being spaced from the portion of the parison forming the first opening, a punch movable relative to and Within said tube for punching a second opening in said parison at the closed end thereof, and means for introducing a fluid under pressure into the parison through the space between the tube and the first opening and between said tube and the Walls of the parison to expand the Walls of the parison against the walls of the blow mold assembly to form an article.

6. Apparatus for forming an article having openings at both ends from a parison having an open end and a closed end comprising a blow mold assembly having internal article-shaping Walls, a hollow tube in said blow mold assembly adapted to extend into said paris-on and engage the closed end of the parison to seal said closed end from the Walls of the parison, a punch movable relative to and Within said tube for punching a second opening in said parison at the closed end thereof, and means for introducing a fluid under pressure into the parison through said first opening and between said tube and the walls of the parison to expand the walls of the parison against the walls of the blow mold assembly to form an article.

7. The method of forming an article having openings at both ends comprising the steps of forming a parison having an open end and a closed end, forming a second opening in said parison at the closed end thereof, introducing a fluid under pressure into the parison through the first opening therein to expand the outer surfaces of the parison and form an article, and sealing the second opening in said 8 parison simultaneously with the step of introducing said fluid therein to prevent said fluid from escaping through said second opening.

8. The method of forming an article having openings at both ends comprising the steps of forming a parison having an open end and a closed end with athickened slug therein, removing said thickened slug to form a second opening in said parison at the closed end thereof, introducing a fluid under pressure into the parison through the first opening therein to expand the outer surfaces of the parison and form an article, and sealing the second opening in said parison from the walls of the parison simultaneously with the step of introducing said fluid to prevent said fluid and from escaping through said second opening.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 199,030 1/78 Challinor 65166 852,129 4/07 Macbeth 65-105 1,513,756 11/24 Hancock 65-166 1,888,255 11/32 Anderson 65-466 2,123,145 7/38 Peiler 65-262 2,393,549 1/46 McCreery 65166 2,419,763 4/47 Cassell 6568 2,978,839 4/61 Eastus et a1 65166 FOREIGN PATENTS 310,421 2/30 Great Britain.

DONALL H. SYLVESTER, Primary Examiner. 

1. APPARATUS FOR FORMING AN ARTICLE HAVING OPENINGS AT BOTH ENDS COMPRISING THE COMBINATION OF A PARISONFORMING MECHANISM FOR FORMING A PARISON HAVING AN OPEN END AND A CLOSED END, A BLOW MOLD ASSEMBLY HAVING INTERNAL ARTICLE-SHAPING WALLS, MEANS FOR TRANSFERRING SAID PARISON FROM SAID PARISON-FORMING MECHANISM TO A POSITION BETWEEN THE INTERNAL ARTICLE-SHAPING WALLS OF SAID BLOW MOLD ASSEMBLY, MEANS IN SAID BLOW MOLD ASSEMBLY FOR FORMING A SECOND OPENING IN SAID PARISON AT THE CLOSED END THEREOF, MEANS FOR INTRODUCING A FLUID UNDER PRESSURE INTO THE PARISON THROUGH THE FIRST OPENING THEREIN TO EXPAND THE OUTER SURFACES OF THE PARISON AGAINST THE WALLS OF BLOW MOLD ASSEMBLY AND FORM AN ARTICLE, AND MEANS FOR SEALING THE SECOND OPENING IN SAID PARISON DURING THE OPERATION OF SAID FLUID INTRODUCING MEANS TO PREVENT SAID FLUID FROM ESCAPING THROUGH SAID SECOND OPENING.
 7. THE METHOD OF FORMING AN ARTICLE HAVING OPENINGS AT BOTH ENDS COMPRISING THE STEPS OF FORMING A PARISON HAVING AN OPEN END AND A CLOSED END, FORMING A SECOND OPENING IN SAID PARISON AT THE CLOSED END THEREOF, INTRODUCING A FLUID UNDER PRESSURE INTO THE PARISON THROUGH THE FIRST OPENING THEREIN TO EXPAND THE OUTER SURFACES OF THE PARISON AND FORM AN ARTICLE, AND SEALING THE SECOND OPENING IN SAID PARISON SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH THE STEP OF INTRODUCING SAID FLUID THEREIN TO PREVENT SAID FLUID FROM ESCAPING THROUGH SAID SECOND OPENING. 